Ex-Governor Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party in the last presidential election, has raised the alarm that there are attempts to damage his reputation further and “defame my character and diminish my hard-earned integrity.”

He told his Obidient Movement that “these schemes” would also “aim at degrading our support base and confusing the public.” 

“I am aware of some evil designs being hatched against me and my supporters in the coming months. Efforts will be made to taint my image,” said Mr Obi in a thread of tweets released via his Twitter account in the early hours of Monday.

He added, “Campaigns of calumny are being perfected to defame my character and diminish my hard-earned integrity,” but confident that “no evil campaign will alter the substance of my character; nor diminish my patriotic commitment to a better Nigeria.” 

 Mr Obi ran his campaign pandering to key talking points as to how the election should be devoid of religious and ethnic sentiments. However, an exclusive report by Peoples Gazette exposed Mr Obi describing the February 25 presidential poll as a religious war in a conversation with the founder of the Living Faith Church, David Oyedepo, asking the latter to mobilise Christians in South-West and North-Central states. 

Despite glaring evidence, Mr Obi lied about the conversation on national TV and dismissed it as a campaign of calumny. He also threatened to sue The Gazette. 

Obi’s full statement

For all Nigerians, this is a time for deep reflection. It is also a time to re-examine our assumptions, even as we reaffirm our hopes. Let us calmly review our aspirations in order to recalibrate our expectations and pin down the causes of our missed opportunities and disappointments. 

We stand at that critical moment in time when, as a people, we must collectively come to grips with the reality of our injured destiny as well as the reasons for that injury. It is for us to reassess our plight as a young democracy and identify clear pathways to a better and greater future for us all. As we await the verdict of the election tribunal, I urge all Nigerians to use this opportunity to renew their commitment to the Nigerian ideal. 

That ideal remains noble and worth every sacrifice we can make.

Nigeria remains our only patrimony, and it is a patrimony we must protect rather than violate. We have no other nation but this, so let us remain committed to rescuing and rebuilding it.

The judiciary is part of the democratic enterprise and a critical governance tool for determining the propriety of the decisions and actions of every citizen and every institution of state. To that extent, and for that reason, I urge everyone to treat it with the respect and dignity it deserves. 

We expect that the Nigerian judiciary will use the election cases now before it to reaffirm its independence and integrity. It has to do so, for all our sakes and for itself.

Nigerians must, therefore, remain peaceful and law-abiding. No matter the depth of anyone’s reservations about what is going on in the polity today, no matter the real and imagined provocations, and no matter the disagreement out there, we should remember that this will not last forever. 

I remain committed and untiring in my determination to work with like-minded fellow Nigerians to end the curse of missed opportunities and squandered hope that has become our lot here.

I will never shrink from that original commitment because I firmly believe that we must change from the present politics of criminality and corruption in order to make a new Nigeria possible.

I call on fellow Nigerians, especially the youths, to remain steadfast, calm, patient, and peaceful. Our journey may be long and difficult, but it is worth it in every way. Victory is assured.

We have to work together to move our beautiful country from corruption and criminality to a centre of productivity rather than aimless consumption.

I am aware of some evil designs being hatched against me and my supporters in the coming months. Efforts will be made to taint my image. Campaigns of calumny are being perfected to defame my character and diminish my hard-earned integrity.

These schemes will aim at degrading our support base and confusing the public. But, no evil campaign will alter the substance of my character; nor diminish my patriotic commitment to a better Nigeria.

It is about the future of our youths. It is about ending the Years of Locust. 

In all of this, I thank Nigerians, our great party (LP) and the media. The latter, as the Fourth Estate of the realm, has remained a trusted ally.

This Estate must continue to guide our people on the immense promise of a future in a new Nigeria. 

God bless Nigeria and protect the troops keeping us safe in this season of vaulting insecurity.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. -PO